A practical example of popular hubs and the size of connected components
Everything seems connected nowadays, even in the most unexpected ways. This news article talks about a situation that happened in Argentina. The original one is in Spanish but I revised the translated version and it is almost 100% faithful. I will give some context first: right now, the 10th season of Big Brother is airing in Argentina. There are some eccentric characters, with diverse life stories. At one point, a 60 year old man (Alfa) and a 34 year old former congresswoman were sharing anecdotes, when the name of the current president (Alberto Fernández) surged. It was then that Alfa claimed not only that he knew him personally, but that he had also received many bribes from Fernández in the past. As expected, it wasn’t long until the clip went viral in Twitter. However, with all the things that happen in Argentina, and specifically all the scandals the government is involved in daily, this would’ve gone by unnoticed and probably disappeared after a few days. Or that’s what one would think.
This was not at all the case. Only a few days later, the president’s spokeswoman (Gabriela Cerruti), posted a Twitter thread denying Alfa’s sayings. This is by itself surprising enough, as it shows how what a participant of a reality show says can rapidly reach the ears of the government itself. But this doesn’t stop here. Of course, having Cerruti posted it, the matter achieved a reach that no one could’ve imagined. This was noticed by a journalist (Diego Brancatelli) who supports the current ruling party. He responded to Cerruti’s tweet criticizing her for increasing the reach of the news by voicing her opinion about it herself. Tweets came and went until even Fernández expressed himself on the topic, announcing that he would take legal action against Alfa, who doesn’t have the faintest idea about the national scandal he provoked while trying to win the 15,000,000 Pesos prize.
One moral of this situation is how connected the world nowadays is: a seemingly inoffensive anecdote by a participant of a reality show brought about a dispute in Argentina’s ruling party, and caused a reaction of the president himself. Another takeaway is that, as Brancatelli pointed out, there are some established popular hubs in the internet (such as the president spokeswoman) that have a much higher reach and credibility, granting them a big responsibility in considering what to talk about or post.
Original (Spanish): https://www.infobae.com/teleshow/2022/10/20/la-critica-de-diego-brancatelli-a-gabriela-cerruti-por-sus-mensajes-contra-alfa-de-gran-hermano-2022/
Translation: https://www-infobae-com.translate.goog/teleshow/2022/10/20/la-critica-de-diego-brancatelli-a-gabriela-cerruti-por-sus-mensajes-contra-alfa-de-gran-hermano-2022/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es-419&_x_tr_pto=wapp